Before World War II, Dresden was called "the Florence on the Elbe" and was numbered among the world's most beautiful cities owing to its architecture and art treasures. During the war, however, it was almost completely destroyed by massive bombing raids that took place on the night of Feb. 13-14, 1945, by 800 aircraft of an Anglo-American force. The city continued to be bombarded in raids lasting until April 17. The raids succeeded in obliterating the greater part of one of Europe's most beautiful cities, killing between 35,000 and 135,000 people, but achieved little militarily.

[Editor's note: this is being quite generous; Dresden achieved NOTHING militarily - the objective was to kill civilians, first by incinerating or suffocating them (a firestorm was deliberately created that sucked all the oxygen from the families cowering in the bomb shelters), then by strafing the survivors as they attempted to pull their family members from the rubble. If the West had lost World War II, no doubt those responsible for this would have been tried as war criminals. To envision what Dresden must have been like, imagine the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 times several thousand, but with no hospitals to go to, no medical supplies, and all rescues being hampered by strafing planes. More human beings perished in Dresden than in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.]

Dresden was so badly damaged that it was suggested that the best approach might be to level the site. After the war a compromise was reached by rebuilding the Zwinger and the Baroque buildings around the castle and creating a new city in the area outside. Much of the city was subsequently reconstructed with modern (though rather plain) buildings, broad streets and squares, and green open spaces, with the aim of preserving as far as possible the character of the Altstadt.

The heart of Dresden is still a cluster of Baroque churches and the Rococo-style Zwinger on the south bank of the Elbe, in the Altstadt. These churches suffered severely during World War II: the Frauenkirche (1726-43; "Church of Our Lady") was destroyed, but its ruins have been kept as a memorial; while the Hofkirche (1738-55; "Court Church") and the Kreuzkirche (restored 1491, 1764-92, and 1900; "Church of the Holy Cross") have been restored. The Georgenschloss, the former royal palace (1530-35, restored 1889-1901) in the Altstadt, was also heavily damaged by bombing.